He sat on the park’s cement wall looking down at me and my friend asking question after question. He had sought us out because he said he wanted what we had; joy and laughter. He wanted the hope we carried with us and his hunger was ravenous. It had been a while since I had met someone so hungry for truth and love.

As much as he was asking us questions, we tried to ask some back. Did he have any dreams, passions, desires to do something special? It didn’t take long to get a picture of a lie at work in his soul. He had been shut down by family members and his own mistakes and failures. He hated that he’d sometimes smoke weed to feel better, to numb the pain; an all too familiar tale.

Every time we shared the truth of what we could have here and now but also for eternity, he would grin wide. At one point he stopped talking for a moment while he tried to understand a concept which seemed new to him. With a huge grin he asked, “You mean we can double dip? Like have it good here and have it good there too?” When we started laughing and nodding, “yes, yes”, he grinned even bigger than before.

A precious seed of hope could be seen growing quickly in him that afternoon. I look forward to seeing it come to fruition, both here and in eternity.